August 28, 2014

This week has been way interesting.

First of all, I found there's a website called Dear Elder for writing missionaries. Anyone can write a free letter to me that is printed and delivered to me Monday-Friday -- the same day, if your letter is in by 12:00 noon. Written letters are like gold here at the MTC -- contact with the real world.

I only have one hour on the computer every week, so Dear Elders and handwritten letters are the best! I hardly have time to check all my e-mails AND write a big letter. So when in doubt, please use dearelder.com! Thank you. :)

[Dear Elder Procedure: 1. Sign In or Sign Up (“Open An Account” top left), 2. open this url: http://www.dearelder.com/index/inc_name/mission_selection, 3. For Letter Selection, pick “Provo MTC” in the drop-down menu, 4. Write letter! 5. Unit No: 64, Mission: ADRTCS, Estimated MTC departure date: OCT15]

So at lunch a few days ago, one of the Branch Presidents sat down to eat lunch with our district. I decided to ask him what branch he was president over. It turns out it was President Nally, who is the president of all 4,000 missionaries here at the MTC! I was a few hours late the first day, so I didn't get to see him in the introductory meeting. It was definitely a very awkward experience that gave everyone I was sitting around a good laugh, and I won’t be surprised at all if I get called to pray at a devotional soon now.

The highlight of the week was the Sunday Night devotional. The speaker was Brother Allen, the General Manager of all the MTCs. At the beginning of the devotional, he asked someone to read a scripture for him. Someone in my zone knew I brought my scriptures so he patted me on the back, and I raised my hand. The speaker called on me, and I was up there until the end of the devotional. I only read about 10 verses in Alma 26, but he also wanted my thoughts on all of them the whole devotional while he offered his own. Ever since then, people have been coming up to me saying, "I KNOW YOU! YOU WERE THE GUY THAT READ!", about 30 times a day. Elders in my zone call me Elder Superstar, and sometimes, The Reader.

I really can't decide how I like the food. A lot of people complain that it's nasty. It in atame day,  4. Write letter!)s basically an all-you-can-eat buffet for every meal, and we get 3 entrees every time.

Bulgarian has been coming along really well. I'm picking up on it pretty quick, but no one really knows how similar it is to Macedonian. Our district leader, Elder Hardy, really has a talent for it though. It's insane how fast he say things fairly fluently, and once he hears something, he doesn't forget it. He studied the language a bit before he arrived, but he really helps to motivate me to catch up to him.

Things with my companion are getting a little bit better. He talks soooooooooo much about things that people don't really care about. After every lesson, he'll talk to everyone he sees and tells them about it, even though they really don't care. I think he is getting more comfortable with me, which is helping. Hopefully, we'll be able to work together better as time goes on.

The fitness time we have is awesome. There's so many things to do, and it's nice to get an hour out of the classroom.

All in all, I'm having a really good time here. My main trial is just having enough patience to deal with my companion, but I know its helping me to be a better person.

The PC software I have to use is weird and won't let us upload pictures to email.

One word: dearelder.com even if it's just a sentence

ческоро

стареишина Rigby